


What I Would Give

by havetaoque



Category: Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Asgard, Badass Loki, Brothers, Emotions, Feels, Gen, Hurt, Magic, Mourning, Violence, unnamed character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 11:28:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13810248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havetaoque/pseuds/havetaoque
Summary: “You are all fools. He will die, don’t you see?” Loki spat, straining wildly against his chains.Thor is on his death bed. No one knows or is willing to attempt the cure -- no one but Loki.





	What I Would Give

**Author's Note:**

> Hm, why am I writing this when I need to be writing article reviews? /shrugs/ Anyway, here's my take on the Loki-saves-Thor-from-the-Beyond trope. Inspired in part by C. S. Lewis' _Till We Have Faces_ and _The Great Divorce._

All the herbs and poultices were useless, mere palliative treatments.

“You are all fools. He will die, don’t you see?” Loki spat, straining wildly against his chains. The manacles on his wrists slid smoothly against his skin, blood-slick and growing warmer with Loki’s thrashing. The guards on either side of him dug in their heels and yanked harder on his chains when Loki made another desperate lunge toward Thor’s body, where he lay below in the great hall.

Loki’s curses were cut short as the collar around his throat constricted, runes glowing gold with the All Father’s old magic. He paused in his struggles to catch his breath, then threw himself at the guard on his right. His momentum pulled the other guard off balance, and Loki made swift work of tangling up the chains until both guards lay face down on the ground with Loki crouching above them.

He leaned in close and hissed in the ear of one, “You will free me and then I will save Thor, and you will not interfere.”

The guard tried to jerk her hands free. “Never, Silvertongue. You will not touch the king! Not while I live!”

“I will not let you near his mind,” the other said. “Better for him to die than become enslaved to your vile will.”

Loki stiffened. “Will you be the one to kill him then?” he asked.

Before the guards had time to react, Loki wrapped the chains around their necks and strode along the balcony toward the grand staircase, dragging them in his wake. He hurried down the stairs, outpacing the bouncing bodies, and pushed through the throngs of people that had gathered at Thor’s makeshift sickbed.

There were heaps of flowers and offerings of food; braziers glowed hot with coals and fat sticks of incense sent forth smoke that rose to batter against the vaulted ceiling of the hall. Loki continued toward Thor, trampling the flowers and gifts underfoot. People leapt aside as he passed, terrified of him even as he was brought low and chained like an animal; he, a prince of Asgard.

The offerings were thickest the closer he got to Thor. Loki waded through them until he reached Thor’s bedside. The healers scattered, retreating to the safety at the fringes of the crowd.

Thor lay upon a pile of furs, stripped to the waist and patched with scraps of herb-soaked cloth. It was the stillest Loki had ever seen his brother. It frightened him, but he mastered himself.

“Someone come here and remove these shackles.” No one moved. “Now!” Loki roared, spinning around to face them. The crowd shuffled back as one, stumbling over their gifts and offerings and one another. Pathetic.

Finally, one of the Royal Guards came forward and struck off the cuffs. The chains were borne away, along with the two who had opposed him. Loki rubbed his wrists and sighed as his magic flowed back to him. He stood taller as he drew power to himself, gathering it up like a starved man. Then darkness fell in the hall.

“Get out,” Loki whispered.

The hall emptied as quickly as it had filled.

When he was alone, Loki turned back to Thor, running his fingers against his skin in the dark; he was cold.

“Brother,” he began. “Thor.”

The new king lay still, barely breathing, but Loki knew he was caught within his own mind. No sooner had he taken the throne than Asgard had been attacked by a force from outside the Nine Realms. The invaders had possessed their own means of inter-dimensional travel. It was locked away in Asgard’s vault now, but it was dearly won.

Loki climbed upon the bed and laid beside Thor. They used to lie like this as children; Thor would chase away Loki’s nightmares. Now it was Loki’s turn.

He pressed his forehead against Thor’s and summoned his magic, holding Thor’s face firmly between his hands.

It was bright.

“Thor?” Loki called. The wind carried his voice across the grass. Mountains loomed in the distance, snow-capped and solid, wreathed in mist. Loki looked down and found he was wearing his armor once more, no sign of the tatters he’d worn during his imprisonment. He set off toward the forest; if Thor was here, he would likely be in the woods.

Loki walked on for hours. There were no paths in these woods, only deer tracts that were scarcely visible beneath the heavy foliage. The trees were slim, their bark smooth – a young forest, not yet wrinkled with age and secrets.

At length he emerged at the edge of a clearing. Water trickled somewhere beyond the rock outcroppings. Then he spied it.

Mjolnir lay propped against a boulder.

“Thor! Thor, where are you? Come out! I have been searching.”

And there he was, at last. Thor stepped out from behind the boulder, radiant with the sun at his back and smiled widely in surprise and joy.

“Loki!” Thor held his arms open and Loki rushed across the field to him, barely feeling the ground beneath his boots.

“What are you doing here, brother? I have been all alone. I thought there was no one else.”

Loki clutched at Thor’s shirt. They were alone and there was no one there to see. Thor smiled and patted Loki gently. “There, there, brother. What troubles you?”

“You are dying,” Loki said. He pulled back to look at Thor. “After the battle, you were hit with a curse. You have been wasting away in the great hall. They have been preparing your funeral pyre! They are going to burn you! Thor! They must not. Come back with me. There is still time.”

Thor had not seen Loki so free with his emotions in a long time. He regretted that freeing Loki had not been his first act as king. At the time, it would have been unacceptable. Perhaps it still was. But now…

“Stay here with me, Loki. You are free here.”

“I cannot. _We_ cannot. Thor, you must come back. Asgard needs its king.”

“They have you,” Thor said.

Loki stepped away, bristling. “ _They_ do not want me.” He swallowed. “And I do not want them. I told you before: I never wanted the throne.”

“There are no thrones here.”

“That’s the curse talking,” Loki grumbled. “It is tricking your mind. It’s this place – this peace – it’s too perfect. It’s not real. I’m in your head. I used magic to join you here, but we are both still in Asgard, in the great hall. You must return!”

Thor sighed and sank down upon the grass. “Remember when we were little and we used to make up stories about the shapes we saw in the clouds?”

Loki groaned. “Thor, please. We are running out of time. I am running out of time.”

“You?” That drew Thor’s attention from the clouds.

“Yes,” Loki said in frustration. “I’ve entrapped myself as well by taking your curse upon me! I cannot leave without you now, and if you refuse to come with me, there will be two bodies in the great hall, not one.”

Thor rose to his feet again; Loki knew that would convince him.

“I see,” Thor said. “I will return with you, Loki. I will not allow you to die on my behalf.”

Loki almost rolled his eyes, but he was so relieved, he simply took Thor’s hand and tugged him back the way he’d come.

When they reached the place Loki had entered the dream world, Thor paused and looked around, bidding farewell to the mountains and the forests. Time passed differently here; Loki was not sure how long it had been for Thor, but from the sadness in his eyes, he could guess.

“I will not forget your bravery, brother,” Thor said, turning back to him. “It was foolish of me to wish to remain here when Asgard needs me.”

“Yes, it was,” Loki snapped. But it wasn’t – it really wasn’t. Loki could already feel the pull of this place, the peace it offered. No pain. Here, he could forget his past. But he knew he would not be himself anymore if he stayed.

“I will pardon you,” Thor said suddenly. “When we return. I will pardon you. We can rule Asgard together. You were always better suited to manage the kingdom than I.”

“Thor,” Loki said, shaking his head. “There will be an uprising.” He could see in Thor’s eyes that he knew it was true.

“Then stay and advise me. I do not wish to lose you again.”

“Yes, brother.”

 

Thor woke to find nearly all of Asgard packed into the great hall. He sat up, coughing, and motioned for the censers to be removed. They were covered immediately and taken from the hall.

After clearing a little space among the flowers and offerings, Thor stood and his subjects fell to their knees. Some were crying, others were singing, and Thor heard at least seven casks of mead broken open.

Loki was nowhere to be seen.

Thor swallowed down his anguish. Then he called Mjolnir and addressed his people.

 


End file.
